Ten months have passed since I left the Black Cats of the Full Moon guild.

Two hundreds and a few more deaths occurred since then, but I'm sure they're still alive.

I heard rumors about them recruiting some new members, to replace me and the deceased Ducker, and have started to make some reputations among the medium-ranking guilds.

Keita's a friendly and reasonable person. They'll most likely find a good member or two.

Well, they're better off without me, after all.

Me? Well, I'm back to being a full-time Solo player, leveling up and doing some good-paying job so I could buy some new weapons.

I once helped a young beast-tamer, a rare job in a world that focused on close combats, to revive her fallen dragon. Her name is Silica, if I remember correctly. Back then, I was taking a job to find and put down a rogue orange guild that's been randomly killing other guilds for their items. One such guild has all their members killed except for their leader, who begged me to find and arrest them. I traced them back to Silica, whom was tricked into finding a rare flower that can revive her dragon.

At any rate, I managed to stop them. Those jokes had nothing on me because of my level grinding. Their leader, Rosalia, was taken under arrest along with her guild, and Silica finally revived her pet dragon at last.

Well, at least I could do something right, for once.

Now, I'm currently residing on the 57th Floor. The Frontline guilds are making quite good progress, mainly because of two major guilds, the Knights of the Blood Oath guild, famous for its elite members and excellent teamwork, and the Holy Dragon Alliance guild, known for its strength in numbers and possession of numerous rare items (some of them they 'borrowed' from other players, by force, if I might add).

However, nowadays, there's been news that they didn't really get along.

Yesterday, I witnessed a group young KBO knights picked a fight with some of the HDA paladins, because the paladins accused the knights for stealing a rare sword from them, while the knights berated them for their ruthless tactics and lack of care. Although nobody died because the fight took place inside the town which is a safe zone, the relationship between the two guilds greatly worsened because of the incident.

And this wasn't the first time something like this happened.

As a solo player, I'm therefore free from the restrictions of guilds and from their conflicts, so I tried not to involve with them too much. Except there's one time when this girl...Asuna, a girl whom I partied with to defeat the first floor boss from a long time ago, asked me to help investigate a strange murder in a safe area, and I 'volunteered' to take up a role of a private eye to find out the truth. Well, she's now rising up in the ranks of the KBO guild, after all. She's one of its finest vice commanders, and therefore, my superior 'officer', so I had to obey her orders.

Eventually, all was resolved, and it turns out no one really died after all. It was just all a big gambit to reveal a traitor in one of the guilds.

Except...if I'm just a little bit more late...someone could've died for real...

The Laughing Coffin guild...an infamous red guild consisted of sadists and psychos who enjoyed murdered their fellow trapped players in cold blood. They got involved with the incident as well, and would've murdered someone for real had I and Asuna not stopped them first...

That...experience showed me a side I've never seen before while playing solo. The importance of guilds, how they worked and shared, and beyond that, marriage.

Something so simple, yet so complex...

Is this too real even for a video game? I mean, dying in a game is normal, but marriage?

Love between players? Players with real emotional feelings and judgments? A sense of mutual trust and respect between each other that existed far beyond this artificial world into reality itself?

Just wow...

"Hey, Kirito? Let's add each other as friends." Asuna said.

"Huh?" What was that all of a sudden?

"We haven't done that yet, right?" She turned to face me.

"If we're both on the assault team, it's inconvenient if we can't get in touch with each other."

"But I'm a solo player..." I said, though it sounded more like a surprise than dismissive.

"I didn't say you have to party up with me! And you should make some friends, too."

"Yeah...well, I wouldn't say it's inconvenient and..."

She walked up to me and gave me a pat on the back.

"Wha!?"

"Think about it while we grab some food! Let's get back to the town first." And then she started walking toward the nearest town.

I quietly followed her, and think about what she just said...

Well, that was two days ago.

I'm still considering whether to add Asuna as my friend. Technically, she's my commanding officer for the assault to clear the floor, but practically, I'm far more experienced than her in terms of combat and tactics, as well as knowledge of the game overall.

Still, I wouldn't have counted my chances too high, seeing that I failed the last guild I joined...eight months ago.

I wondered about Sachi, how she's been doing these days, and how she dealt with all the traumatic experiences around her. It must've been pretty hard for a young girl who's too afraid of dying.

Every time when I'm not on a quest or clearing the floor, I would went to the first floor, the Town of Beginnings, to be precise, to check the Monument of Life, a board that listed every players in the game, alive and dead, now and then, to find that if Sachi...if the rest of the Black Cats of the Full Moon are alive...

Well, they seems to be fine so far.

Even without my involvement, that guild's getting great progress on their own, without a single lost during the past eight months. Keita's a great leader indeed.

To be honest, I envy him.

At least he could achieve something, while I just live day by day in this world with nothing to do except trying to survive.

"Hey! Kirito!" Somebody called out to me.

I turned to look, it was Asuna, and she was clearly not happy at all.

"Why the hell haven't you add me to your friend's list yet!? It's two days already! Am I not important enough for you!?" She gave me a very disappointed look.

"Wha...what!?"

"I already told you, haven't I? You should consider making some friends here! Don't you think I forgot about that stunt you pulled on the first floor! Yeah, it's cool and what, but that's just plain stupid. Don't you think you have enough enemies yet aside from all the monsters out there!?"

I crossed my arms. She's really naive, isn't she?

"Would you rather want them to fight among themselves?! If I hadn't done what I did back then, the Beta testers and the new players will probably hate each other to guts, and not a single guild would've been created since then." I said.

"Besides , you're the one to talk! Haven't you Knights of the Blood Oath members having conflicts with the Holy Dragon Alliance now?! You two guilds should be working together to clear the floors! Not against each other! At this rate, you'll never be able to make it pass another ten floors, even with my help. I'm not a one man army, you know?" I told her.

"Da...don't change the subject, you idiot! It wasn't my decision to hate the HDA! I was just following orders from my commander!" Asuna yelled out.

"Yeah, and how's that helping you guys clearing the floor so far without the HDA's help? And don't let me start about how I saw those HDA members picking fights with you guys every single time you got a new rare item." I argued.

"Don't get me wrong, those HDA members are bastards, but not all of them are bad. Those guys could be a big help in the front lines, even though they can be selfish about items and experiences most of the time..."

"Easy for you to say! You're a solo player, heck, a Beater, if I might add! You have the luxury of fighting on your own terms! There's no restrictions for you! You kill it, you bought it! Life's so simple when it's only you against the world, isn't it!? Does the word teamwork has any meaning to you!?"

Asuna stared at me.

Damn it, not this shit again.

I thought I've been through this since I left the Black Cats of the Full Moon!

"Right...you want my honest answer!? Screw teamwork! It'll only slow me down! I'm better off on my own! And no matter what you say, I won't change my idea!" I shouted.

Asuna stared at me, her eyes filled with anger.

"...I...I thought you were a better person than this...Kirito..."

And then, out of the blue, she slapped me, hard.

"FINE! WHY DON'T YOU JUST GO OUT THERE AND DO WHAT YOU DO BEST!? JUST SOLO THROUGH EVERYTHING!? SCREW YOU! AND DON'T COME BACK CRYING WHEN YOU NEEDED HELP, YOU SELFISH BASTARD!"

Asuna screamed at me, and then she ran away.

"Wa...wait! Asuna!" I yelled out, maybe I was too hard on her.

She turned back to face me one more time, a furious look is still on her face.

Is that...tears...I just saw in her eyes?

Asuna grabbed a teleportation crystal, before disappearing.

Damn it...damn it all...

I screwed up yet again, didn't I?

Maybe...I really am a selfish person...

After two more hours of venting my frustrations into the front line monsters, I found myself resting at a little inn in a town called Farli.

That night, I was sleeping on my bed, when a new message alert awaken me from my slumber.

I checked the clock on the room's wall, it's 23.45.

"...um...who the hell sent a message this late?"

I checked the new messages.

Message No. 01, Sender: SAO Administration, Subject: Welcome to SAO!

Message No. 02, Sender: Klein, Subject: Hey! Where the hell are you!?

Message No. 03, Sender: SAO Administration, Subject: New items discount

Message No. 04, Sender: Silica, Subject: Thank you again for helping me!

.

.

.

(NEW) Message No. 17, Sender: Sachi, Subject: How are you?

...what?

I rubbed my eyes, thinking that what I just saw is just an illusion.

It was still there.

(NEW) Message No. 17, Sender: Sachi, Subject: How are you?

I pressed my finger on the message.

This message is a voice mail, do you want to open?

Yes / No

A voice mail?

And from Sachi?

Whoa...that was unexpected.

Aside from Klein, who I met occasionally on the front lines, and other people I've helped with their problems like Silica, I haven't really got any mails from anyone.

Why would Sachi sent me a message?

I pressed my finger on the Yes button, and the voice mail played.

"...Kirito? Kirito, if you got this message, then I'm very glad you're still alive..."

The female voice I'm familiar with spoken.

"I...really...I don't know what to say. I just wanted you to know that we're doing fine. Actually, I think I'm getting a little better at fighting now..."

Good for her, I think.

"We've got three new members in our guild, they're all very friendly people. I wish you could meet them..."

No, thanks.

"We've been expanding our guild. Keita said that sooner or later we could join the other major vanguard guilds on the front lines. But...well...I'm still somewhat afraid of it...fighting on the front lines."

Guess she still haven't change...

"But don't worry, Keita said he's just gonna let me be the supporter. As long as I'm not doing something stupid, nothing bad will happen to me..." She continued.

"The point is...why I'm sending you this message is...because..."

"Today's Ducker's birthday."

My eyes widen in surprise.

"I...understand that you're still blaming yourself for his death..."

Hell yes! Actually, that's an understatement. I've been having nightmares lately! A nightmare about how I failed to save him, about what could happen to others, about Sasamaru, Tetsuo and you, Sachi, all died in front of me...

I dreamt about how I failed to protect all of you...

"I...think I can speak for the rest of my guild...you don't have to blame yourself anymore, Kirito-kun."

Easy for you to say...

"Keita was...shocked when Tetsuo told him about...about what happened...but he accepted it bravely. He also said it's not your fault at all, despite Tetsuo's protests. It's partly our fault, too. If you remember, Ducker was the one who came up with the idea of us going to that dungeon in the first place...when we're not ready...and he was also the one who triggered the trap..."

"We were careless, but you let us went there anyways. I don't know why didn't you stop us, but I guess you have your reasons. I know that deep inside you're a good person, Kirito-kun. Had you not with us on that fateful day, all of us would've perished in that deadly trap..."

I...I never thought of it this way...

Well, honestly, part of me was somewhat careless, too, back then. I thought that the dungeon was not so dangerous considered the whole guild's levels. I never expected them to find a hidden trap room, which I myself didn't even know it was there.

But...it's true, I did save them...

"I...no...we must thank you for saving us for the second time...No, we must thank you for all the time you're with us. You've taught us so many things when you're still here. You taught us numerous things we could use to survive in this deadly world...Being a Beater or not, it made no differences..." Sachi continued.

"I...have something to confess...that night...when we shared the room together..."

Wha?

"...I...accidentally saw your true level that night. Since then, I've knew how you got your unbelievable strengths and vast knowledge about the world...I pieced it together, and finally realized that you might be the infamous Beater everyone's talking about."

What the heck? Then why didn't she tell her friends?

"I thought really hard about why you would hide your level and join us, but I never did figure it out..."

So she knew, she knew about it the whole time...

"But...I felt so relieved...knowing that you're with us, but I also know that we can't depend on you forever. I know that ever since I told you that I'm afraid of dying, you've been trying your hardest to protect me, to keep me from harm's way..."

"...but, I also knew that, if I died, if any of us died, you would blame yourself. You probably thought that with your high level and overall knowledge of the game, you should be able to protect us..."

And then she laughed.

"You know...I actually made a voice gift to be given to you, in case I died, to remind you that it's not your fault at all. It's not anyone's fault...it's our own problems."

"Ever since that night, you kept telling me that you won't let me die no matter what happens. But what happens if it's all reversed? If it's us that let you die? That day, when we got into a trap, and you saved us, you nearly died yourself. You almost died because of our clumsiness...and that wasn't our first time, either."

Sachi's voice saddened again.

"I...I was very afraid...afraid of losing you...I don't care anymore if I live or die, I don't want you to die..."

She started sobbing now.

"Promise me one thing...Kirito...no matter what happens to us...you keep on living, okay? Don't die now...don't...lose hope in living...You're a good person...you...don't deserve to die now..."

You too, Sachi...

"Keep on living...doing good things...to others, okay? If we're lucky, we might see each other again someday..."

"Ducker would've probably said the same thing...he admired you, you know?" Sachi added.

"If...if by any chances you wanted to see us, we're currently on the fifty-fifth floor, doing some business with the Knights of the Blood Oath guild. You could meet us there, at their headquarters, in the city of Grandum..."

"There's still some time left, I think I'll sing you a song...it's...my favorite song from my childhood..."

And then she hummed a tune...

It's...

When you wish upon a star

Makes no difference who you are

Anything your heart desires

Will come to you

I recognize that tune...

If your heart is in your dreams

No request is too extreme

When you wish upon a star

As dreamers do

Are you kidding me...?

Fate is kind

She brings to those who love

The sweet fulfillment of their secret longing

Tears started flowing through my eyes.

Like a bolt out of the blue

Fate steps in and sees you through

When you wished upon a star

Your dream comes true

I'm...I'm literally breaking down now...

If your heart is in your dreams

No request is too extreme

When you wish upon a star

As dreamers do

Such...such a beautiful song...

When you wish upon a star

Your dream comes true

"Thank you for everything...Kirito, let's meet again someday...Goodbye..." Sachi said her farewells, and the message ended.

Thank you for all the feels, you little...

I smiled, though I don't know why I smiled.

Maybe it was happiness? Or a feeling of contentment? Maybe it was sadness?

She...she hasn't gave up on me...

There's still some hope left for me, right?

I could still do good things to others, right?

I finally stopped crying.

I...I wanted to see her again...

I wanted to make sure that she's still there...

It's about time I start to do something useful for once...

I opened the window and look into the night sky. There are stars all above, all shining brightly.

They're so beautiful.

Well, it can't be hurt to try, right?

I made a wish...

I wished that I could be forgiven, for whatever wrongs I've did...May they forgive me for my failures...and blessed me with strengths to do what is right.

And then, I went back to sleep, with only one thing in mind.

Tomorrow, I'll go see her, and the rest of the Black Cats of the Full Moon guild.

Grandum, here I come...

Editor's note: Well, at least this chapter ends on somewhat an upbeat note. Though Asuna hates Kirito now, and the conflicts between the guilds has risen. Yeah, guess I'm really sucked at summary...

I don't know what I'm doing when I put the When You Wish Upon A Star by Jesse McCartney here, well, the original song was sang by Cliff Edwards in a classic Disney movie Pinocchio, but I liked Jesse's version more. I guess I wanted some emotional impact like the Red-nosed Reindeer did in the episode 3 of the anime, where, you know, that happened. T-T. I don't know if it had the same effects as it, but this song means a lot to me during my childhood. It might not suit Sachi somewhat, but its lyrics are beautiful, and it managed to cheer Kirito up...

Well, don't know what to say more, so, stay tuned for the next chapter!